The Keys and Doors of Friendship
by LightWriter2013
Summary: Now that Loki is back in Asgard chains, Canine is left to try and, once again, make a life for herself. With a two-year "no-seeing-your-friends-so-they-can-adjust-to-a-new-lifestyle" rule, Canine attempts to meet new friends and discover what friendship truly means, facing dangers along the way that could be worse than Loki.
1. Wolf Past, Wolf Future

_Arroooooo!_

A large black head lifted from the grassy ground, black ears swiveling into the night air attentively.

_Arooo-wooo!_

Large, almond shaped blue eyes shone bright like the moon in the night, blinking slowly at the end of the mournful cry. After the cry ended, the wolf parted her lips and tilted her head to the moonless sky, letting her building sorrow escape in the form of a long, pain-filled howl.

Arwooooo!

The sorrowful howl was joined by many others, sending their condolences to the one who had lost another loved one. The wolf's heart twisted and she lowered her muzzle to sneeze miserably into the lush grass, ending her cry short.

Too many death-songs had been sang that moon cycle. Too many of her kin have fallen to the No-breath. How many more would run to join the Star Kin before the humans would leave? Why had they come in the first place? The humans had the rest of the Hardland to breed and hunt, so why invade the peaceful forests and bring the No-breath with them?

The wolf gazed sorrowfully into the dark sky, watching the stars run their night dances and blink blissfully in their paradise. A sigh escaped her lips. The Star Kin looked so happy in their Softland. No need to eat or drink; no threat of Lifebite; no Humans invading to separate the packs. The Star Kin had the promised forever-life that every wolf could get after living their cycle.

The wolf whimpered and lowered her gaze while wrapping her large black paws over her muzzle, struggling to hold back the salty wet that fell from her eyes and into the grass.

"Wind, why do you water the Hardland?"

The wolf's head lifted to turn to the speaker; a wolf bigger in size and with milky white streaking his brown muzzle was padding quietly to where she lay, amber eyes dully looking at his younger familiar.

Wind blinked a greeting to the elder before answering:

"I mourn for my lost kin, Mudfall. My soul cries for the end of another life cycle."

The older wolf, Mudfall, let himself rest on the grass next to Wind, his wise eyes looking into the sky. "The end of a life cycle is sad, but it also celebrates the travel of our kin to the Softland. We howl the death-song to bid them a peaceful forever-life."

"Yes, Mudfall, but so many have completed the travel this moon cycle. Doesn't it hurt you to sing so many death-songs in so little time?" Wind asked with her blue eyes watching the wolf next to her.

Mudfall rumbled a low, wheezy laugh, turning his broad head to face Wind. "You are young and have not sang many death-songs. Yes, many more than normal have been sung in a moon cycle, but I have lived long enough to appreciate the beauty of each song. Every breath drawn while the sound of sorrow and love is released into the sky are breaths given. The Star Kin gave us our voices so we can sing together and share our feelings."

"But our kin who go to the Softland cannot sing," Wind pointed out with sorrow edging her words, "Why do we sing when they cannot join? Why sing to them when we no longer can share their pain and sorrow, or joy and peace?"

"The Star Kin can sing, and they do, they're language is just different from ours," Mudfall replied kindly, "Their song lasts for all time. The reason they are so happy in the Softland is because they can sing forever without their throats burning or breath running. They can share their feelings to the Hardland as well as their packs. Do you know why we cannot sing to the Softlands directly, or understand their songs? It is because we have not felt how it is to fly, and we have not tasted the sky-water. Our voices are bound to the Hardland."

"Can you hear the Sky Kin's song?" Wind asked in wonder.

"We can all hear it. The only difference between you and me is that I know it is their song," Mudfall answered with a thin smile, showing the tips of his yellowed teeth, "I cannot tell you where to listen for it because you would not understand, but as you grow you will learn to recognize it."

"How can you be sure?"

Mudfall's grin turned into a kind smile as he answered Wind's question, "I am sure because you share something special with the Sky Kin that eve I do not share. Just trust my words and you will learn."

Wind sighed, "Ok, Mudfall."

Mudfall nuzzled Wind's ear with his nose, breathing softly on the sensitive black fur. "Good girl. Now, the night is still new. Do try to sleep," the old wolf rose to his paws and started to walk away back to his place deeper in the trees, "And do not neglect to use your voice in the death-song. Saying goodbye is necessary for life, no matter what soul you carry or body you use."

Wind watched respectfully as Mudfall vanished in the shadows before returning to her mournful position on the grass.

Time passed and Wind could not sleep, no matter how she lay or how long she closed her eyes. The feeling of death was hovering in the air, seemingly suffocating her, making it hard to breath.

Finally, with the night almost over, Wind felt sleep start to fall on her and she willingly let it come, letting a tired sigh hover in her throat.

_Arroooooo!_

_Arooo-wooo!_

Wind twitched awake, startled by the death-song. As a habit she rose her head and opened her mouth to send the song flowing farther into the sky, but no sound came out. Wind consciously lowered her head without letting a note rise, feeling sick to her stomach. She had heard one song too many and was done singing. She refused to join in the song again. It was too sad, too horrible to sing to the spirit taken by a No-breath.

Other voices started to sing in response to the first howls, rising softly over the trees and around the island. Wind felt her hackles rise and a growl wrinkled her muzzle. How could they all sing to something so sad? How could they just sing the same thing over and over again?

Wind wrapped her paws over her head, clamping her ears down against her head and blocking out the death-song. Never again would she sing that overly used song. Never.

[...]

_"Wind, the time is nearing and we have sang in agreement. We must warn you of the future. You will come upon a human. This human is to save its home and its kin."_

_"No matter what happens, do not hate the humans, they are only trying to find a better home. Their Hardland is slowly dying. Do not judge them harshly for they are merely trying to survive."_

_"Remember that they do not know what we do and are not connected as we are to the Hardland."_

_"The human you will meet will not only save it's kin, but, in time, ours as well."_

[...]

Wind awoke with cramping forelegs and sore ears. She had fallen asleep with her paws still over her head.

With a grunt she moved into a stretch, pushing her forelegs out in front of her to work out the soreness of her muscles. Irritably she flicked her ears back and forth, trying to rid the delicate skin of its soreness. As the stretch neared it's end, Wind's jaws opened wide in a large yawn, her pink tongue curling in her mouth.

"Hmmmn... Mudfall, are you awake?" Wind asked over her shoulder as she sat back on her haunches lazily. Her question went un-answered and she turned the upper half of her body to look into the trees, "Mudfall?" Still with no reply, Wind stood and padded over to where her older companion usually slept. She approached the spot with her head respectively lowered and tail sweeping the ground. She reached a spot where Mudfall's scent was strongest, marking his nest, but she saw nothing of the elder. "Mudfall? Mudfall, where are you?" She called deeper into the trees, her eyes sweeping the forest around her in search of the wolf.

When there was still no sign of Mudfall, Wind's head shot up high in alarm and she immediately started to sniff the air for any trace of where the elder had gone. Mudfall, despite arguing otherwise, was reaching an older age and had started to stay with Wind as he needed more caring for and could not live alone as well as he used to. The old wolf had always told Wind if he was going anywhere. He hadn't done so overnight, and he was missing. To Wind, this meant trouble.

"Mudfall?" she called out louder while heading off in a direction she could smell her kin's scent strongest, "Mudfall? Mudfall, where are you?"

Wind dreaded the thought of her companion and mentor alone in the trees with the No-breaths hiding anywhere. She had never seen a No-breath before, but she imagined it as something long and quick, like the white streaks that scar the sky when the Softland cries. The image of Mudfall lying dead with a No-breath hovering over his body made Wind speed up her pace until she was running between the trees, shouting Mudfall's name over and over again with increasing fear.

"Mrgh... Wind, you badger, stop tramping through the forest like a startled rabbit." a voice cut through the forest, making Wind stop dead in her run. She rushed over to where the voice had spoken and found a familiar grey wolf lying lazily in a large patch of moss and clover glaring accusingly up at her with half-closed blue eyes.

"Oh, Storm, I'm so worried! Mudfall's not in his nest and he always tells me when he goes on a walk! What if a No-breath got him? Storm, I can't bear to hear another death-song."

Storm shifted onto his back, letting his long, thick, grey underbelly fur to fluff out. "Mudfall can still take care of himself, he's not so old he can't take a walk without another wolf right there at his side. Just give him the day to enjoy the quiet he no doubt has found."

Wind growled at the un-helpfulness of her kin and quickly turned around and stalked away from him, holding her tail high to show her displeasure. No sooner had she done that she smelled the strong scent of Mudfall and she launched herself through the underbrush in the direction he had gone. Leaves and branches snapped at her face and sides but she pushed the sharp pains aside to focus on finding her pack-mate.

With a final bound Wind stumbled into a clearing and gasped with relief at the sight of Mudfall sitting silently staring up at the blue morning sky. His ears and tail flicked her direction, motioning permission for her to approach.

"Oh, Mudfall, I was so worried," Wind whispered once she was sitting next to the elder, "Why didn't you tell me you were going on a walk?"

Mudfall stayed silent, not looking away from the clear sky.

"Mudfall?"

"You didn't sing."

Wind blinked with surprise, unable to think of a reply.

"Last night, when another one of our kin traveled to the Softland, you did not sing the death-song."

Shame suddenly rose into Wind's heart and she hunched over her paws, staring at the grass to avoid Mudfall's eyes which had moved to rest on her. "No, I... I did not."

"Wind, there will come a time where you will learn to love and respect the death-song. We have been singing it for may life cycles. You should not feel badly towards the song."

Wind glanced up at Mudfall and winced when she saw the hurt expression on his face. "Mudfall, I can't sing the death-song again... I can't bear to hear it. What's the point of singing to our kin when we can't understand their song? It just leaves us to wonder what they would say from the Softland. It's too sad."

Mudfall's expression changed to that of disappointment before he replied. "I cannot make you understand the importance of the death-song; that you can only learn on your own."

Wind lifted her head to reply, but movement behind her interrupted and both she and Mudfall rose to their paws, noses sniffing the air.

Something hard and sour, overpoweringly strong, and extremely bitter slammed into their senses, nearly numbing their sense of smell. It was something Wind had never experienced before, and she stumbled backwards, rubbing her nose with a paw.

"Wind," Mudfall grunted, hackles raising and a snarl spreading over his muzzle, "Run."

As soon as he had made the command three humans crashed from the forest, shouting and waving their arms. The screams hurt Wind's ears and she rapidly turned to escape into the forest, vaguely noticing Mudfall's breath panting into the fur on her hindquarters as he followed.

"What are they doing here? The humans never venture from their Big Roars!" Wind panted to Mudfall.

"I'm old and have knowledge far past your own, but I don't know this much!" Mudfall grunted, obviously getting winded, "Just... keep running! The humans will give up qui-gurck!"

"Mudfall? Mudfall?!" Wind slid to a stop and turned to run back when she realized the wolf had vanished. "MUDFALL!" She had to skid to another stop a moment later to avoid crashing into her mentor who looked like he was lying limply but suspended in the air. His legs were scraping weakly at the ground, dull claws pulling up clumps of grass as he struggled weakly against the invisible hold. Wind stared, gripped by fear, at the elder who was gasping for breath that sounded like it wasn't going anywhere. His tongue that was lolling from his parted jaws looked alarmingly purple.

"M-Mudfall! Mudfall, no!" Wind nuzzled her nose around the wolf's neck trying to find what it was that held him aloft and stopped him from breathing. The metallic smell of blood filled her nose and she pulled away with her muzzle spotted with crimson blood. "Mudfall!"

"N-N-... No-breath..." Mudfall rasped bubbly, blood starting to drip from his mouth, "N-No chance..."

"No! No, Mudfall, No! NO! Not you!" Wind cried out, the salty wet starting to drip down her muzzle again, "Please!" she ran around the older wolf, sniffing for anything that could help her save him, "Mudfall, you can't go now! Your cycle isn't done yet! It can't be done! Who will I ask questions too?! What will I do without you as my mentor?!"

Wind's questions went unanswered and Mudfall's struggling only became weaker and his breathing attempts shallower. She couldn't do anything but watch as her only pack member slowly started his travel to the Softland. It was agonizingly long watching the elder suffer from the invisible No-breath, slowly becoming less and less responsive to her nuzzles and whimpers. Finally Mudfall stopped moving and Wind could smell the coldness of his body. Mudfall's life cycle had reached its end.

"No... Mudfall, no..." Wind fell into the grass, salty wet drops soaking her muzzle fur and dripping into the grass. There she held her vigil, silently staring blankly into the grass.

"Oh, Wind..." Storm's voice interrupted the deafening silence, "I'm so, so sorry," he padded to sit next to Wind who didn't move, "Mudfall was a great mentor to you. It's horrible that his life cycle ended with the No-breath like many of his kin."

Wind grunted in reply, closing her eyes to try and stop herself from listening to her surroundings.

"Arroooooo! Arooo-wooo!" Storm howled forlornly into the sky, followed by the many other voices of his kin that joined into the death-song.

Wind grimaced and put a paw over her face, unable to do anything more over her grief.

And thus went the next few minutes. Storm sang the death-song with the distant kin while Wind ignored the voices and silently grieved for her mentor.

[...]

They would pay. The humans- all of them- would pay for invading her Hardland and ending the life cycles of her kin. She would drive them back to their Hardlands and make sure they knew to never come back.

Wind, her heart full of anger and hate, bounded over bushes and around trees, heading towards the unforgettable human smell. They had taken Mudfall with the No-breath, and a Big Roar had bitten Storm. Both of her closest kin were in the Softlands when _she_ should have been the one to make the travel. Wind couldn't shake the guilt that coursed through her mind, not through the whole Moon cycle since her last death-song. The humans had stopped stomping through the forest and many had left, but only after it was clear to Wind that few of her kin were left. Every night since Mudfall's travel the voices singing the death-song decreased to minimal, lonely cries.

Wind could not sit still any longer, her rage was too much to ignore. She would seek out the humans and take revenge.

Her pads hit a hard, hot, scratchy surface and Wind paused her run to look down at the ground. The grass had been torn up in a long, snake-like path and was replaced with a black substance that reeked of humans and stung Wind's nose.

She growled, disgusted at the substance before her ears were hit with a loud, deafening roar. She looked up, eyes wide, as two blinding lights sped closer, and grew ever brighter. A Big Roar, and it was running along the path right for Wind.

She told herself to move, but her legs didn't listen. The sight of the Big Roar had initially paralyzed her, leaving her rooted to the spot.

Just as everything seemed covered by the Big Roar's bright eyes, evening returned, and Wind was left blinking blindly at the empty black path. Sounds of tree roots being pulled from the ground and a horrible, screeching sound like a very loud bat screamed into the air before everything fell silent.

A death silence. That's what Wind heard. The sound in the air when a life cycle passed.

Then something started to howl into the darkening sky. It was not Wolf. No. It was much higher and louder, and the notes didn't stretch as long as a wolf howl, but, instead, broke sporadically apart.

The cry was not familiar, but Wind could hear the pain and sorrow that was so often included in her kin's songs. This howl was the death-song of a human.

Wind rubbed her face with a paw and padded, curious in the direction the Big Roar had went, easily following the torn up grass and broken underbrush to the edge of a short ravine where pieces of shiny objects lay scattered along the grass, reeking of the sour black stuff on the ground. At the bottom of the ravine, merely ten bounds down, lay a jumbled mass of shiny hard stuff. Tiny glittering shards that looked like stars were scattered across the rocks, and many other things that Wind had never seen before were strewn around the broken Big Roar.

The strange death-song continued and Wind started her slow descent down to the Big Roar, carefully placing her paws so she did not slip on the fake stars and fall to the bottom of the ravine.

Before she even reached the Big Roar, Wind could smell a strong scent of blood. Human blood.

She reached the bottom of the ravine and started to circle the Big Roar, trying to pinpoint the source of the death-song. Halfway around, nearing what Wind guessed was the Big Roar's face, Wind saw blood pooling around more fake stars, and something was sticking from under the shiny stuff. With a closer look, Wind realized it was a human hand, and the rest of the human was covered by the Big Roar. She circled around to the other side and found another human in a similar position as the first. Both held the death scent.

But the death-song was continuing, and Wind decided to keep moving around the Big Roar until she found the living human.

Wind tried to smell out the human, but her nose was clogged with human and Big Roar scent. Her ears were still ringing from the Big Roar's roar, and her vision still held white spots from when the Big Roar glared at her.

The way she found the human was pure luck. Her nose had brushed something smooth and it smelled less like a human, and more like a pup; milky and sweet. The object moved, bumping Wind's nose, and she knew immediately that she had found the source of the death-song.

Carefully Wind managed to pull the human pup from the Big Roar and had it placed on a patch of moss. The pup hardly had any hair on its head and its colored pelt seemed loose and baggy compared to other human pelts. It's skin was pinker and seemed softer than the adult humans. Blood was dripping from cuts on the pup's arm and leg.

Wind stood, shocked, at the sight of the human pup. The two humans under the Big Roar were no doubt its parents. No wonder the pup was singing the death-song so loudly.

Wind felt a feeling of guilt set in her stomach and she suddenly felt like she was going to be sick. Because she had gotten angry at the humans, this pup was without its kin. It was alone in the Hardland, just like Wind was.

"Oh, Star Kin, what have I done?" Wind whispered to the sky, "What have I done?! I'm no better than the humans!" She looked back down at the human pup, watching it continue its death-song and release large drops of salty wet which slid down it's flat face and splattered onto the moss. "I-it's just like me. It mourns for its kin and waters the Hardland with salty wet."

Wind stayed standing, not knowing what to do for the human pup. She racked her mind for anything that could help, and remembered a dream she had received the night before Mudfall's life cycle ended.

"I-is this the human?, the one I was told I was going to meet? But, how will it save its kin? It's hurt, and has no kin around to help it."

Wind let her gaze sweep around the ravine in a vain search for any living humans. The sudden ending of the pup's death-song made Wind turn back to it. Her heart fluttered when she realized that it was nearing the end of its own life cycle, silently falling into sleep.

"No... no, not again..." Wind muttered, nuzzling the pup with her nose to try and wake it up, "Not again. What will happen if its cycle ends? What will happen to its kin? What of me and my kin?" Wind paced, horrifically flustered and afraid. "What do I do-ooooo!" Wind drew out her cry in a howl of anguish, pointing her muzzle to the night sky.

A breeze ruffled her fur, seemingly brushing her pelt in the way a pack mate greets another. The air traveled around Wind for a moment longer before rushing out of the ravine, sighing its sound of running through the rocks and echoing against the walls. Wind perked her ears, suddenly gaining a thought.

"Awooooo! Roooo-arooo!" she sang to the sky, throwing her questions into the drawn out tones.

The wind whistled through the leaves above the ravine, and hummed as it sped between the trees.

_The human must live. You must share your life cycle with the pup._

Wind nodded, not fully realizing what she was hearing, and looked down at the pup.

With a low, drawn out note, Wind padded over and wrapped herself around the pup, resting hear head on the pup's front and completing the circle with her tail brushing her muzzle. Wind sighed, softly ending her small song of forgiveness, and closed her eyes, willing her life cycle to reach to the pup. She felt a small tingling under her fur and in her heart, then Wind forgot.

[...]

I stared up at the full moon, blissfully enjoying the clear night air aboard the SHIELD heli-carrier. No one was around. Even the nightly guards seemed to be elsewhere, leaving me to stand alone with my thoughts. My three friends were on my mind, for they just left to Utah earlier that week, and I was already feeling the loneliness of them being gone.

With little urging from the wolf spirit, I transformed into a wolf. Something inside me was urging for me to let out my feelings somehow. The stars that twinkled above my head held some new meaning when I was a wolf. The foreign feelings was something I embraced. They felt new, and made me feel like I had a new purpose in life.

Sorrow suddenly filled my heart and I fell into it, allowing instincts to take over and show me what I could do.

My mouth opened, lips parting to allow sound to escape. Something started to rise in my thick throat, vibrating deeply before changing to create a long, clear, note. The howl grew louder until it was seemingly echoing from the wind. The cry felt good, and I let my heart our itself out into the night sky.

"Arroooooo! Arooo-wooo!"

The howl sounded less like an animal howl and more like a song. A loud, sorrowful song that called to the stars and cried to the moon.

A death-song.

A song that shared one's pain to another in a strangely perfect melody.

It was a song that was born from the earth and sky itself.

It was not a song meant to make others feel sad.

It was meant to express love and the hope of seeing kin again.

I didn't know where the realization came from, or even why I had it, but the wolf spirit inside me seemed to relax and feel content for the very first time, so I kept singing, knowing I would be seeing my friends again. For the first time I was speaking to the heavens, and I could hear them speaking back.

_Well done, Wind. Well done._


	2. See In Me

_**This is the lyrics to a song I wrote not long after starting Loki's Stray. I hope to have it recorded and posted on youtube at some point so you all can hear it with the piano, but, until then, here's the words. Enjoy!**_

Have you ever had a day,

Reality takes the fun away?

The world tells a lie,

Leaving you to die.

Why can't they see,

That this is me,

Never going to change.

There is only one I see,

Who is worthy to help me.

No one else will even try

To look me in the eye,

And see,

In me.

That through this shell,

I'm kind, not evil.

I'm not the monster you see.

Look past the cover,

Read my pages,

Find my whole story.

Just try to see,

Who I'm meant to be,

In me.

In me.

They will not defeat me,

Turn around and beat me,

Not while I'm alive.

I'll stand, and I will thrive.

You're always there,

Keeping us a pair,

Holding me up tall.

Then you have to go away,

Telling me I mustn't sway.

I might stand alone,

But stronger have I grown!

And see,

Through me.

Through this shell,

I'm kind, not evil,

I'm not the monster you see.

Look past the cover,

Read my pages,

Find my whole story.

Just try to see

Who I'm meant to be.

In me.

In me.

Now thanks to you,

For helping me through.

The path is now in sight,

I'm going strong,

Forever along,

Completing who I'm meant to be.

I'm no longer beneath them,

Gonna live amongst them.

They will accept,

That I'm not perfect.

They'll see,

In me.

In my shell,

I'm kind, not evil.

I'm not the monster they see.

They'll skip my cover,

Find my pages,

Read my whole story.

They'll finally see,

That I'm meant to be,

Free.

Free.

_**I hope you all enjoyed this even though it's short. Don't hesitate to review on any of my works, and, if you have prompts for me, either PM me or include it in your review. The one-shots, songfics, or archs only last as long as I have ideas. **_

_**Thanks for reading, I really appreciate your support!**_

_**You are special, don't forget it.**_

_**-Light**_


	3. Tony's Shadow Day 0

_**Hey! So, I'm running low on One-shot ideas already. Come on, help me out if you want more! ANY idea, anything at all, just tell me and I'll write it. :) I'll be trying to get a chapter up every couple of days, but it all depends on when my parents kick me off the computer. Anyway, enjoy this one-shot!**_

* * *

"Stark, I need you on the bridge."

Tony moaned and rubbed his fingers along the bridge of his nose, silently debating whether to ignore the SHIELD director or do as he says.

"Tony," He looked up and glared at the star-spangled Avenger sitting across from him. "You should go to the bridge."

Tony grumbled something under his breath and stood from his chair, not bothering to clean up the sandwich remains from his lunch. He avoided Steve's eyes as he passed him and headed out of the room.

The walk to the bridge should have been relatively quick, but Tony purposefully slowed his usually speedy strut to take as long as possible before reaching his destination. When the large doors appeared around the corner with Fury standing, arms crossed irritably, Tony slowed down even more and added a small jump to his step, making it seem like he was enjoying taking up the man's time.

"Stark, I called you ten minutes ago." Fury declared, anger edging his voice, "What took you so long? This is important."

"You've called me to you three times already, all for the same 'important' reason. My answer is still no, Nick, and I'm not changing it." Tony declared, shouldering past Fury to walk into the large bridge.

"She saved your life, Tony. The girl deserves-" Tony cut Fury off with a sharp wave of his hand and a solid scowl.

"No. No, no, and no, a thousand times over," He repeated, rubbing the bridge of his nose again, something he had started doing more and more over the past week, "That girl nearly got us all killed. I won't have her-" He was cut off by a sharp look from Fury. Even with only one eye the SHIELD director had the reputation for the deadliest of glares.

"I don't think you understand, Tony. Canine has proven she's changed for the better and is willing to help out on the team." Tony huffed and turned to look out to New York, which was currently blocked by a low-flying cloud. "I know you don't trust her, especially after sending your suit into the scrap-heap, but you need to give her a chance."

"I suppose you've already planned out a visit?" Tony asked, partially jokingly, but still refusing to meet Fury's eye. When Fury didn't respond immediately, however, Tony spun around and, with an attitude-filled slap to his leg, answered his own question. "You did..."

"I did," Fury confirmed with a small nod of his head, "But that's not the only thing..."

The annoyed Avenger rolled his eyes disbelievingly at what he was hearing, making sure his exasperated sigh could be heard throughout the entire bridge. "OK, what else? Tell me, what else have you done without letting me know?"

Fury grinned and glanced at the floor for a moment before looking back up and answering: "I've assigned you to be Canine's mentor for the week." If the last sigh wasn't loud enough, the sound Tony made was far beyond it, causing many of the SHIELD agents in the room to pause their work and look up curiously at the bickering men. "Only for a week. She'll be given a week with each member of the Avengers so she can learn what each has to offer."

"Why me first? Why not the Captain, or Banner; he's sure taken a liking to the girl, let him have her first." Tony argued, starting to pace the floor and rub his nose again.

"I chose you to have her first because you are the leader of the Avengers, and I trust you to give her the basics." he thrust out his hand to grab Tony's arm and stop the man's furious pacing so he could listen better, "In any case, you two need to make up. You've been giving the girl the cold shoulder ever since she's joined SHIELD."

"Is there something wrong with me not liking someone? I'm not doing anything to you or SHIELD. I'm not hindering any secret mission." Tony grumbled, yanking his arm away from Fury to continue his pacing, "And she doesn't like me either. Even if I was to try and talk to her, she'd ignore me. She won't even come into the same room as me."

"She requested having you first."

Tony stopped mid step and stared at the floor. The mutant girl wanted to be with him _first_? Why? They both hated each other. They both refused to be seen in the same room. _Why_ on _Earth_ would she ask for him the first week? The last week would have made more sense...

"You really don't see it, do you? Canine hasn't been avoiding you out of dislike, she's been giving you your space, which happens to be the entire room." Fury explained, "She really wants to be on good terms with you. At least try and give her this week to prove what she's made of?" Tony snapped his head up to Fury, annoyance and irritation obvious in his eyes and stance. "It's only one week, Tony."

"Urgh... fine," Tony grumbled, "But _only_ one week. At the end, I'm getting a restraining order."

A smile slipped over Fury's face and he walked past Tony to look over the railing at someone out of Tony's line of sight, jerking his hand up in a gesture to follow him. When Tony saw who was behind the monitor she gritted his teeth and grumbled something incomprehensible, glaring at some random person on the other side of the room, shoving his hands moodily into his jeans pockets.

Tony listened as Canine passed Fury and walked to stand a few paces away from him, cautiously clearing her throat to try and catch his attention. When he refused to move, she took the matter in her own hands.

"Um... I- I know this won't do anything, but I'm sorry... I didn't know who I was before... I... I was confused and I-"

"Look, just shut up, OK?" Tony interjected, looking at Canine from the corner of his eye, "I don't want this week to be extremely painful for either of us, so if you just give me space, not talk, and just not touch anything we'll be cool."

"I... I'm sorry, but the whole point of this week is to learn all I can from you about what you do for SHIELD," Tony grimaced at how stern the girl sounded as she continued. "I asked to have the first week with you for two reasons: to learn from the top to bottom, and to get our differences settled."

"Look here, kid, here's our differences: I'm an Avenger. I fly around in a metal suit and keep New York safe. I spend my time keeping people like you safe," he reached around and rudely jabbed a finger at Canine's shoulder, "You? You're a trainee. You transform into a large animal and run around trying to fit in. You spend your time trying to figure out who you are and how to make up for nearly killing us all. See? If I was to try and get to know you, I would get nowhere further than I have now." He enjoyed the look of disbelief that scrolled across the girl's face, but what she said next stole his pleasure.

"Like it or not, I'm going to try. If you really want to not give a crap this week, then whatever, but I'll make sure you won't hear the end of me until the end of this week. You are not getting rid of me _once_ until the week's over."

"Is that a bet?" He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring down at the girl who was closely trying to match his infamous attitude.

"You want a bet," he watched as Canine reached into her back pocket and pulled out a handful of green paper, "You've got one. You get rid of me _one time_ and I'll pay you whatever happens to be in my hand right now _and_ I'll leave you alone. But," she flipped the cash behind her back, "If you don't, then you get to take me to Shawarma's with the rest of the Avengers and you pay for all of the orders."

Tony blinked with surprise. He had expected Canine to ask for money, or a suit, or something better than just a lunch, but he wasn't going to complain. "Alright. Deal." He grabbed Canine's hand and shook it roughly, "One time. I lose you one time for three minutes."

"Three minutes." Canine agreed.

Tony took one last look at the mutant, brown eyes looking her up and down. She had spirit at least. She actually looked confident that she would win the bet. Like he would ever let that happen.

"Come on, lets make the most of this week. I want to enjoy seeing you _not_ following me in the next hour." Tony declared with his usual cocky air while shouldering past the girl to leave the bridge.

"Don't make another bet until you've lost this one," He heard Canine shoot back, "It would be embarrassing to lose two in a row."

Tony clenched his jaw determinedly. There was _no way_ he was going to lose to a kid. Mutant or not. _This _shadow was one he was eager to be rid of.

* * *

_**Hi! Finally got one up! I know it really hasn't been all that long, but still. It feels good to get another one finished and posted. **_

**_So this is going to be a short series of possibly three to five chapters. (I might end up calling it an Arch, but, in all honesty, I have no idea if that's the right term for something like this.) Anyway, here's part one, with part two coming soon._**

**_Oh, and for any newbies out there, I strongly suggest you read Loki's Stray before continuing. Characters and references form that story will pop up here. Just a heads up, of course._**

**_Thanks for being there for me all y'alls! I really appreciate it!  
_**

**_-Light_**

**_Be the you you want to be, not who everyone else wants. :)_**


	4. Tony's Shadow Day 1

Day 1

Tony grinned to himself as he jogged down the hall. He had just created a clever ruse to lose the girl and, so far, it had worked. It had only been a half hour since he had left the bridge with her in tow, and he had already lost her for a minute and a half. Double the time and the bet would be his.

He paused his musings to slow his pace and glance over his shoulder. Only a few SHIELD agents were in sight.

No sign of Canine.

Tony laughed within himself at how easily he had tricked the mutant girl. He had simply told her to fetch a tool while he stepped out the door for a moment. A small lie, but Tony didn't care, being the stubborn, cocky, self-centered millionaire that he was. In all actuality, he was heading to the lunchroom where he planned on spending the day snacking on SHIELD goods and just letting time waste by. It was something he had been doing for the past few weeks and he greatly enjoyed the feeling of sitting with some food and a magazine without a care.

Tony reached the door he was so used to seeing and, with a final glance around to check that the girl hadn't somehow caught up with him, walked in with his head held high.

"Oh, Hey! Glad you could join us!"

Tony's jaw dropped as he gaped at Canine who was sitting cross-legged on the top of a table, a soda in hand, with Steve, Clint, and two other SHIELD agents sitting around her all grinning broadly at the newcomer. His eyes snapped down to look at his watch to see how much time passed.

Two minutes forty seconds.

Tony groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose, partially infuriated and partially impressed. Somehow Canine had known he was going to the lunchroom and had beat him to it. How had she known where to go? He had no idea. How had she even gotten there before him when he was first to leave? No clue. But she did it, and had two of his friends laughing at him.

"You OK there, Tony?" Steve asked with a hint of laughter, his blue eyes shining with amusement, "You know you can always talk to us if something's bothering you."

Tony glared at the Avenger, warning him not to go any farther with his teasing, but, unfortunately for him, Steve wasn't the only one keen on making fun.

"Seems like you've found your shadow, Tony," Clint started, rising to stand next to Canine, "Would have been a pity of you lost her for too long. You should be lucky she's as smart as you." One of the un-named agents snorted, earning a sharp glare from Tony which only succeeded on making his outburst louder.

"How'd you beat me here? You couldn't have known-"

"Really, Tony? Really?" Canine smirked, finishing her drink with a final chug and tossed the can expertly into the garbage across the room. "I'm a Kanine for Pete's sake. I can gather information and put together the pieces faster than Jarvis can tell you what you had for breakfast, which, by the way, was fried eggs -sunny-side up- and a Shawarma sandwich."

"You know... I really don't know where Pete comes in here," Tony muttered, trying to strengthen what pride he had left and use his sarcasm to get the better of the girl, "And Jarvis told me what I had for breakfast before I even had it. Can't beat that, can you? Hey, you didn't even do what I had told you to do." He watched as Canine shook her head and, with a mischievous grin, pulled a wrench from the seat behind her and tossed it at him.

"She's got you beat, Tony. You'll have to try harder if you're going to win your bet." Steve commented, standing and walking out of the room with a last-second amused grin shot at Tony. The humiliated Avenger watched Steve leave, then turned his head when a hand patted his shoulder.

"Can't wait to order my food." was all Clint said before following Steve, leaving Tony to face Canine and the two agents.

He glanced to the three, each in turn, before pocketing the wrench in his waistband and sighing loudly. "I'm going to eat lunch, and no one will say a word." He vaguely noticed Canine nod and the two agents smile while he walked to the fridge and selected some food.

This was going to be the longest week of his life.

* * *

"No, no, no. _That_ thing goes _there_, _this_ thing goes _here_." Tony sighed impatiently as Canine fumbled with the machinery in her hands, struggling to put the parts together where they should be.

"If you could tell me what _that thing, this thing, and here and there_ are this would go much easier…" Canine grunted, scowling at the machine in her hands while removing a small memory chip and switching it with a small gold rod, "At least point when you say stuff so I know what you're referring to… There." she put the robotics down, sitting back to let Tony see better, "That's right, right?"

Tony reached over and grabbed the hand-sized jumble of metal and wires, turning it in front of his face to see that every individual wire was in its right place. Despite the long two hours spent on the machinery, Canine had done well, especially with how unhelpful Tony had made sure to be. "It's right. Now I'll change it and you have to fix it without my help."

"You didn't help me in the first place." Canine muttered, resting her chin in her hand to prop herself up from the table.

Tony ignored her and turned to hide what he was doing. He plucked some wires from their places, switched some of those ends to sit in the wrong places, and rotated the small rod to a different spot. He glanced quickly over his shoulder, making sure Canine wasn't watching, and plucked a small metal strip from the green memory chip, stowing it away quickly in his jeans pocket. "Alright, I'm done," he exclaimed, turning back to Canine and handing her the mechanical object, "Now fix it." Canine sent him a short glare before rotating to face the table and started to examine the wires.

She made short work of his vandalism, immediately re-connecting the wires to their places and fixing the rod. The overall time was nearly half an hour by the time she had everything fixed. Everything but the easy to miss metal strip Tony had stolen.

"You done?" Tony asked when Canine sat back, rubbing her chin thoughtfully while staring at the mechanics.

"I- I think so… but something's not right… Wasn't there four memory strips on the chip? There's only three now. If there's one missing the chip won't work properly and any memory put on it could leak out," She lifted her icy blue gaze to look questioningly at Tony. Tony couldn't suppress the shiver that ran up his spine as he met the girl's eyes. They felt cold. "Tony? Where are you hiding the strip?"

"H-Heh… y-you got me." Tony's words stumbled over each other and he tried to cover his falter with a cocky laugh. He pulled the missing piece form his pocket and handed it to the mutant, taking a deep breath to clear his head of the nervousness he got from Canine's eyes as she turned away to replace the piece.

It was impressive, really, what an impression she could make on someone with just looking at them. Tony's seen it before in everyone who's met her eyes: The unsettled twitch of an eyebrow and shift in stance, and a laugh or comment to cover their uncertainty while never again meeting her eyes during the rest of the conversation. He had even seen it in Nick Fury. He covered it better than most, but Tony could still barely see the slightest fall in his countenance. The only people he had ever seen not falter from her gaze was the three girls; Canine's best friends. For some reason they never got that chill or sense of... torment.

"I'm done." Canine tugged Tony back to the present and he grabbed the device only to nod automatically and put it back down, "Good work. Um, call it a night. We'll work more tomorrow."

"And we agree that he bet is paused the instant you lose sight of me." Canine nagged, her eyes searching for Tony's but he managed to avoid contact by turning to the door, "Yeah, as soon as I lose sight of you up until I see you in the morning." He mumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose in irritation. Without another moment passing Tony exited the room and strode away, mumbling under his breath.

A beeping took his attention from the hallways to his wrist where his watch was blinking a bright blue light and illuminating the time. 8:00.

"Eight? It's eight already?" Tony grunted, turning the device off and turning his gaze back up to the hall, "I just spent the whole day with that girl... I hope the rest of the week will go just as fast. Otherwise I'll go mad." He entered an elevator and pressed the level that held his sleeping quarters where his familiar supplies and friend, Jarvis, was waiting.

"Hello, sir. How was your day with Canine?"

"Shut it Jarvis, I don't need you pestering me too." Tony grunted, glaring at his suit where Jarvis was currently saved.

"It is amusing, sir. Especially the bet you made with her, and, even better, your failed attempt earlier today. What is the significance of this bet anyway?"

"I said shut it. If I win then I don't have her following me around for the rest of my life; peace and quiet," Tony declared before changing the subject, "Now, what are the statistics of the generator we tested? I want to get it finished tonight."


	5. Tony's Shadow Day 2

Day 2

"Wake up, Tony! It's long past time for you to get up!"

Tony awoke with a start when hands roughly grabbed his simple white t-shirt and shook his shoulders, pulling and pushing relentlessly, making his chin bump against his chest as his head bobbed about. "Stop! Hands off!" He shouted irritably while smacking away the hands that woke him.

"It's noon, Tony. You've slept in long enough!" Canine argued, pushing his arm in an effort to keep the man awake.

Tony took one look at Canine and moaned, turning and tucking his head under the sheets that covered him. "Leave me alone! Go bother someone else."

"Nick told me to get you up. He said you have to man up and deal with me for the rest of today whether you like it or not," Canine huffed through her nose, shaking Tony again, "Now. Get. Up."

"No." Tony growled, pulling the covers tighter around him to effectively keep Canine from ripping them off, "I stayed up late last night."

"And you've slept till now. You've had enough sleep, Tony." Canine took a step back, hoping that giving him space would get him up, but he still refused to leave his bed. "I didn't want to do this…"

There was a moment of silence and Tony hoped it was the sound of her absence, but, when a sharp 'hr-ruff' of a dog broke the quiet moment, Tony knew he was in for a fight to stay in bed. He quickly tried to cocoon himself in the blankets but a portion of the fabric bunched together, obviously in the maw of the wolf. With a large tug, Tony was sent tumbling to the floor, pulled off by the covers that were tangled around his legs and wrapped around his arms.

Canine dropped the covers and flashed Tony a wolfish grin, wagging her tail slowly and swiveling her ears about mischievously. "Awake now?" She asked, lowering her head to hover a foot over Tony's face. Tony scowled and cursed at her, rolling over to push himself up and fall back onto the bed. "Seriously? Tony, come on…"

"No." Tony answered grumpily, pulling the pillow over his head and pressed it over his ears. He didn't have to have the blankets to sleep. It was comfortably cool in the room and he could easily put on a sweater if he was cold. The mutant couldn't do anything to get him out of bed, no matter how hard- Tony's thoughts cut short when teeth wrapped around his leg. His first thought was that she was only threatening him to get up, but, when he started getting pulled form his bed, Tony knew she wasn't joking. "Freaking let go! Don't you dare- Let me go!" He shouted, clawing at his bed in an attempt to stay on it's surface while tugging at his leg to free it from Canine's jaws. Luckily, since she didn't want to hurt him, Tony only had to tug three times before his leg slipped free from her mouth.

Tony quickly started to scramble over the floor, aiming to slide under the cot and out of Canine's reach. "Oh, no you don't," Canine barked, diving down on the fleeing Avenger and scooping him temporarily away form the bed with a large, black paw, "You are getting up whether you like it or not!"

"I'm not going to leave this room!" Tony growled, using a belt he happened to find to slap Canine over the muzzle, making her yip with pain, "Now you get away!"

"No!" Canine grunted, quickly swiping her paw over her muzzle as if to wipe away the sting of the belt before jabbing out again and swiping Tony from his mad scramble to the bed, "I will keep you awake today!" She clamped her jaws firmly but gently over Tony's waist, gripping him by the waistband of his jeans, and pulled him along the floor to the door before tossing him out.

By this point Tony was furious. He was well awake and knew he never would get back to sleep until late the next night, but pride kept him from giving in. Once Canine had tossed him through the door of his room into the hall, Tony was done playing. He waited for her to transform again so she could fit through the door before making his move. He jumped at her, swinging the belt he still had in his hand. "You wanted this! I'm awake now, but very, _very_ angry! Better run or you get hurt! This is the lesson for today!" He snapped the belt in the air, letting it's wicked leather end fly dangerously close to Canine's face.

He could see her icy eyes widen with surprise and disbelief, and she stood still, staring at him like he was joking. Another snap of the belt in the air told her clearly he was serious. Tony felt a little satisfaction grow within him when the mutant vigorously rubbed her cheek where a small red mark had appeared. He hadn't meant to hit her with the tip of the belt, but it happened, and she was soon turning to stumble into a run away from him. "This lesson will teach you how to use your surroundings against an enemy! Try and escape me so you don't get hurt!"

He fell into the chase once he had finished his proclamation. A wicked grin spread over his face when the thrill of the moment made adrenaline surge through him and he found a burst of speed that easily caught up to the girl. He cracked his makeshift whip right behind her, barely missing her arm but still making her yelp with surprise. He was just about to make another attempt to snap the belt at her when she suddenly took a corner, slipping through a door with another agent.

Grin widening now that she was making it a hard chase, Tony went through the door and charged across the broad hall to the next door. On the other side he was met with a punch to the jaw that temporarily scrambled his senses. While he stumbled, Canine's voice reached his ears. "C'mon, make this hard!"

Without thinking, Tony lashed out with the belt, wincing slightly when the sound of someone falling heavily on the floor followed afterwards. He could hear Canine grunting as she pushed herself up and he focused on launching himself forward to reach her. Perfectly timed, Tony landed right on top of her, driving the breath from her lungs, but, to his surprise, he was swiftly shaken off and the girl was running again.

_"Oh-ho... so that's how this'll be..."_ he thought, getting up to chase her again. He watched as she sharply turned, barely making it inside an elevator before it closed and started to wherever it was going. Being that the level Tony was on was one of the center floors, he was left with the choice of up or down. Following his gut, he charged up the stairs, taking the metal steps two or three at a time before exiting onto the third floor up.

For a moment he waited, listening for sounds of the elevator that would tell him if it was going to go any higher. To his excitement, the doors opened on that same floor. Five agents exited the lift, sending last-second glances inside the elevator which he assumed were sent to Canine. With a victorious shout he jumped over and into the small room, startling the agents as well as Canine who retreated to a back corner. The doors closed and Tony was left with Canine. Their eyes locked and they dared each other to blink first. Tony twirled the belt around in small circles, threatening to lash out with it. He could see the girl shiver which made him smile wickedly.

"Look... we can talk about this, right?" she gulped, edging to another corner when Tony took a step forward. "Oh, yeah..." Tony drawled, cocking his head to the side with a sort of curiosity towards the mutant girl, "Talking always works, right?" He turned so his body face her, the belt flipping forward lazily, making her flinch, "So why don't we talk some..." He prepared to flick the belt at Canine, but, to his surprise, she moved first. Her shoulder slammed roughly against the side of his chest, pushing him aside. He let the belt flash out, harshly snapping between her shoulder blades and making her hiss with pain but it did nothing to stop her from pressing the button to open the elevator door and run out. "Darn it!" He muttered, following in hot pursuit with his belt snapping forward to try and hit her again and interrupt her retreat but to no avail.

The next five minutes passed with nothing gained. Canine remained ahead, but Tony stayed close behind. Many tricks had been attempted by one to lose or catch the other, but each had failed miserably. It was starting to get on Tony's nerves. They had also passed by many agents, all of which watched with different emotions as the Avenger chased the recruit by them with a belt in his hand. Tony had no doubt that, by now, rumors had spread of him trying to beat the student he was supposed to be teaching. He shrugged the thought aside, deciding it wasn't important.

Canine rushed around a corner and Tony didn't hesitate to follow. He was just able to see her black boot whisking through a door before she vanished from the adjacent hall. He entered slowly, purposefully making his entrance known with a round of three quick snaps from his belt into the air. The first thing he saw was three pairs of eyes: Natasha's, Clint's, and Banner's, and all looked mildly surprised at him.

"Um..." he murmured intelligently, glancing around the medium sized, high ceiling-ed training room. His eyes rested back on the three Avengers in front of him but all they gave were shrugs or small, denying shakes of their heads. They weren't going to help, knowledgeable of what was happening or not.

Tony stepped farther into the room, sweeping his gaze over every portion of the room in search of Canine. When he didn't see her, he looked, again, at the three adults who were watching with a great amount of interest. "I know you know where she is," He urged them with a beckoning wave of his hand, "Tell me?" All he got was small, knowing smiles. "Come on guys-" He stopped short when Clint's eyes flickered up. With a start Tony looked up to the ceiling and was met by a heavy weight falling on his back and shoulders, knocking him over.

"Gotcha! Ha-ha!" Canine proclaimed, transforming quickly to be able to hold Tony down on his front without much trouble. He struggled, angrily muttering curses at her before lying limp, giving up trying to escape the giant, heavy paws on his back and shoulders.

"Outmatched by a teenage girl, Tony? Wow..." Clint smirked, sending embarrassment through Tony's mind, "I expected you to at least look up somewhat above you, but-"

"Oh, leave it," Bruce cut in, shouldering Clint with good humor, "This is Tony we're talking about. Don't want his ego bruised more than it already has. Lets' leave him to deal with Canine. I think the Captain wanted us to meet him for lunch anyway." Tony watched as the three filed out, holding back laughter and shooting him amused glances. Once they had exited and a few minutes passed with silence, he felt Canine's weight lift from his body.

"I let you win…" Tony muttered, pushing himself up to face the large wolf standing behind him. "Yeah-huh. Sure you did," Canine replied with an amused twitch of her ears, "This means I passed the lesson, right?" The way she had spoken clearly stated that she wasn't really asking for an answer, but Tony, being the man he is, refused to let the cockiness pass, even if he was against a giant animal that stood over him.

"I really think you're just showing off-"

"Please, don't go there, Tony." Canine interrupted him, transforming so she could walk through the door and into the hallway, "When you're not such a pain in the rear, cocky, self-centered, prideful, and lazy prat, you can say I was showing off. Until then, I just did what I could to learn the most out of this lesson." She turned her head to look at Tony over her shoulder, "So that's one lesson down. What's next?"


	6. Tony's Shadow Day 3 (pt 1)

Day 3

_Time- 11:45 am_

_Three days… only three more days._

Tony let his head hit against the table again, continuing his repetitive beating.

_Only three more._

_Three more, then he would be rid of Canine. _

_Three more days until he could have peace._

_Three more days until he could be free of responsibility._

_Three more days of heck._

Tony hit his head against the table again, harder than the previous times and made the SHIELD agents near him to look up, startled when the table shook. One opened his mouth to comment, but Tony slammed his head against the metal again, purposefully making a loud "thump!" to cut him off.

The past two days had felt like forever. How would he survive the next three?

_Thump..._

It sounded impossible.

_Thump..._

He didn't think he could make it.

_Thump..._

He had to win the bet. He had to.

_Thump..._

He was Iron Man, for Pete's sake! Tony Stark! He was king of bets!

_Thump..._

He would not lose to a teenage girl.

_Thump..._

He would win... He would win. He had to win.

_Thump..._

For the sake of his pride, he had to win. Otherwise-

_Thump..._

He would never hear the end of it.

"Tony!"

_THUMP!_

Tony flinched, both from surprise and pain, and groaned when he recognized the voice.

"Tony, have you been here the whole time? I though you said we were going to train."

"Go away…" He grunted, sitting up to rub his cherry-red forehead, "Let me wallow in my self-pity."

"Tony…" Canine strode over to the avenger, forcefully pulling him around by his shoulder to look at her, "Come on…" He looked into her icy-blue eyes, defensively brushing her away while averting his eyes. "No."

"Tony," the mutant grabbed his shirt and shook him slightly, "Now. Please? I want to learn stuff!"

Tony grumbled under his breath, scowling and trying to go back to hitting his head on the table. He didn't have to look at his watch to know Canine had found him under the three minutes… again.

He had tried tricking her. That was an obvious fail.

He had tried sneaking away. Same outcome.

The attempt to scare her away sorely backfired.

This time he had tried lying to her, and it still didn't work.

Somehow the girl always knew where he was, and knew exactly how to get there before her time ran out. It was beginning to sound hopeless to Tony. He was so exhausted trying to think of ideas, he was tempted to just try walking away from the mutant for three minutes.

"Tony!"

He ignored her, hiding his face in his arms.

"Fine… You won't teach me, I'll teach you."

"No-no-no- wait!" Tony was too late to react. Strong jaws clamped down on the back of the collar of his shirt and roughly tugged him from his seat. In one swing he was tossed from the lunchroom, sliding several meters across the metal floor before stopping at the foot of a wall. He grunted curses, vigorously rubbing his shoulder which throbbed hotly from his hard landing. "Stupid little- you stay away!" He tried slapping Canine away as she approached with a wolfish grin, but only succeeded in handing her a new object to grab hold of.

"I really feel like the teacher right now," Canine growled around Tony's hand, firmly keeping his wrist between her teeth while not drawing blood, "Having to drag you to the training room..."

"Let me go you demon!" Tony shouted as Canine started pulling him along the halls, "I said let go! That's an order!"

"Mrrmph." was all Canine could say without loosening her grip.

"Oh, I'm sorry... I couldn't understand you through my hand- OW!"

A deep, dog-like rumble vibrated form Canine and she whipped her long tail across Tony's face, clearly passing on her message.

"I don't care if you're bigger, girl. Let. Me. Go!" Tony shoved his foot inside a door, halting Canine's progress. He grimaced as his hand was tugged uncomfortably hard at the sharp halt, but he wasn't about to be dragged along the airship by a giant animal.

Canine looked down at him with surprise and Tony took the chance to punch her in the nose. She wheeled back, howling, before having to stop when her head hit the ceiling and her paws started to throb after thudding against the walls. She was just too big for moving a lot in the heli-carrier hallways. "Ha! I-" Tony's proclamation was cut short when Nick Fury appeared around the corner, looking none too pleased.

"Stark!"

"Now the party's started..." Tony grumbled, unconsciously sending Canine a mutual grin which she, to his surprise, replied with a small twitch of her ears and an amused snort. Maybe she wasn't all that bad...

"Tony wasn't doing his job as my mentor, and he refuses to cooperate. Look, I had to drag him this far before he would acknowledge me!"

Never mind.

Nick looked down at Tony, a scowl creasing his forehead as his one eye searched the avenger.

"Look, sir-"

"Don't start with me, Tony." Nick interrupted, shifting to a more attention-demanding stance (if possible), "I've been trying to get a hold of you for two hours. What have you been doing?!"

Tony opened his mouth to give an excuse but Canine beat him to it. "He was moping in the lunchroom, beating what brain cells he has left from his head." He sent her a sharp glare. _'You didn't have to open your large mouth.'_

"Can't take it, don't dish it." she growled with a small sneer, exposing her white fangs.

"And you, Tinora... I've been trying to contact you for just as long," Nick shot over to the wolf-teen, letting his glare move on to her, "What's your excuse?"

Canine's maw opened in preparation for a reply, but Tony took the moment for revenge. "She was making a fool out of me, disturbing your SHIELD agents trying to eat in peace, and was dragging me around the heli-carrier." Me immediately looked to Canine, finding satisfaction in the anger that blazed in her eyes. '_Can't take it, don't dish it.' _He mouthed, which earned him a warning growl.

"Focus!" Nick shouted, his originally cool demeanor crumbling away with impatience, "You two have been the biggest problem on this ship! Right now, I need you to put aside whatever competitive pride you have and stop going for each other's throats. Can you do that for me, just for a few minutes so I can talk to you without distractions!?"

Both shocked by Fury's outburst, Tony and Canine nodded in unison, Canine taking the moment to transform back into a human.

"Thank you. Now," Nick regained his composure, eyeing both the avenger and the mutant, "There has been a robbery at a military base which we are currently arriving to. What was taken is of utmost importance to SHIELD and must be retrieved. The criminal left hardly any trace, except for a small scrap of his jacket which we traced to a nearby construction site. Don't ask me how, it's a longer story than needed." He folded his arms over his chest, eyeing Tony and canine to make sure they were listening, "I need you two to try and find the thief and the object he stole."

"Why us?" Tony wondered, using the wall next to him to push himself up.

"It'll be a dangerous mission, one that I don't trust my normal agents to attempt," Fury answered, "You two are qualified for the mission."

"Why not another Avenger?" Canine asked, "Wouldn't one of them be better than Tony and I?"

Nick sighed, shaking his head, "Normally I would have sent out Natasha and Clint, but they are already on another mission. Banner is an automatic no. What was stolen needs a gentler attitude than his."

"Mr. America?" Tony pointed out.

"On a trip. He won't be back until after the mission would be over."

"Thor-"

"Now don't be ridiculous, Tinora. I'm not calling Thor just to come down and find an object that doesn't concern him," Nick grunted with a frown, "You two are just fine for the job. Do you accept?"

Tony glanced over at Canine who's eyes had done the same, meeting his gaze evenly. They stared at each other, mentally weighing the odds of the mission and their capability to work together. Tony frowned at the thought of cooperating with the mutant. No. That would never, ever happen.

"I'm in." Canine decided suddenly, surprising Tony with how fast she chose, especially when the look she gave him afterwards was one of distrust.

"I-" Tony stopped short in his declining reply when Nick stared him down. Obviously he had no choice. "Fine. When do we leave?"

"As soon as you're in your suit, Tony. I'll see you two in about five minutes." With a dismissive wave of his hand, Nick turned and strode away.

_"Oh, great. Flipping great..."_ Tony thought as Fury disappeared around the corner, _"A full-on mission with a teenage mutant wolf SHIELD trainee... what could possibly go wrong?" _Tony glared at Canine, hoping that her mutant abilities included mind-reading. Of course he was disappointed when she showed no sign of understanding his venomous look, but that never stopped him before. "So, a mission together," He started, folding his arms over his chest with enough attitude to challenge, well, anything. "How d'you think we'll succeed?"

Canine returned the glare, searching for the right words to use in her answer. Tony could tell she was trying to find a crippling reply. He was put back a little by how distant she suddenly seemed, however. He had never had the girl act with such dislike towards him. Yes, she was impatient and had threatened him more than once, but never with such a malicious attitude.

Eh, Tony could care less. If she didn't like him, then she would leave him alone sooner.

"We'll succeed when you're not such a jerk." Canine eventually spoke, frowning despite herself at how little the insult affected Tony who had only smirked in reaction. "On that note, I'm getting Jarvis and my suit."

"See you in less than three minutes."

Tony hummed a non-amused acknowledgement and headed for his room. Did he say the next three days would be heck? What an understatement.


	7. Tony's Shadow Day 3 (pt 2)

Day 3

_Time- 9:00_ pm 

"What are we looking for again?" Tony grumbled under his helmet, talking to Fury who was currently on the other end of the call. He swept his gaze over the area for the hundredth time, checking for any hostile activity. They (Tony and Canine) had been dropped off in a thin forest an hour ago and had to trek to their destination. Now they were crouched behind the largest tree they could find close to the construction site and were watchful for any possible ambush. "A small metal box with blue LED-type lights. Inside is a valuable object crucial for the completion of a secret SHIELD project."

"What kind of project? I haven't heard of one." Tony heard Nick sigh and he waited somewhat patiently for him to answer. "You haven't heard about it because it's confidential, thus the term 'secret'," Nick growled, "Now stop asking questions and find it. We believe it's being kept at the top of the unfinished building."

Tony looked upwards at the mention of the building; a ten story mansion that had it's main frame made up but no permanent foundations. Most of it was made of wood, but supporting metal was visible higher up where the finishing wood had yet to be added. Deep shadows were cast by a full moon, making the unfinished building look ominous. "Yeah, alright."

"Be careful, Stark. Whether the thief is there and with friends or not we're unsure of. Now we have readings that-"

The call ended abruptly into static, making Tony jump the slightest bit.

"Tony? What's wrong?"

He ignored Canine and directed his attention to his communication system. "Jarvis, what's happened to Fury?"

"It appears that our communications are being jammed, sir. Calling anyone is impossible."

"Every frequency is covered?"

"Yes, sir. I just ran a diagnostic over every possible variable to our communications and have found no loophole. Until this mission is completed we will be unable to connect with anyone."

"Well that's great..."

"No kidding," Canine cut in, suddenly reminding Tony that she was still right behind him, "Now we have to call the shots without in-air information."

"Yesss..." Tony drawled, holding the 's' into his next words, "So that means you listen to me. You do exactly as I tell you."

"Mrrgh... fine. What do we do now?"

Tony turned his head to look at the teenager behind him, "I fly to the top and get the whatever-it-is. You stay here, out of my way."

"You can't-"

"Nu-uh, you agreed," Tony reminded with a wave of his arm, "And you don't have much choice considering I'm flying away right now." Before Canine could react, he jumped into the air and activated his suit, instantly shooting into the air and towards the top of the unfinished mansion.

"Tony!" Canine growled after him, transforming and jumping up in a vain attempt to grab him from the air, "Don't leave me here!" She stopped when Tony was well out of loud-whisper-distance, huffing in anger with ears flat against her head and tail lashing furiously. Her blue eyes watched as Tony neared the roof. He was about to land when movement caught Canine's sharp eyesight and her attention shifted. It was a person for sure, clad in black to blend into the dark, nighttime shadows, and in his or her hands was a weapon, glinting moonlight at Canine. For a second Canine watched, waiting for the person to make a move. Bright blue light speedily lit up the person, growing from the barrel of the gun, and Canine knew Tony was in danger.

"TONY! LOOK OUT!"

As soon as she said it, what could be called blue lighting shot forward and collided with Tony, lighting his suit with crackling electricity. She refrained from running into the open, observing to see if Tony would be fine. When the Avenger dropped form the air, suit sparking and smoking, Canine couldn't move, even if she wanted to, out of shock. Tony was downed? How? Her eyes followed a thin, dark cord glinting with electricity as it swept through the air, away from Tony, and back into the gun.

It was mere second between Canine's warning and Tony's fall before an electrified cord sprang down to Canine, missing her flank just by a hair's breadth. She jumped into the air, growling with alarm before darting out of the trees and towards the unfinished mansion, followed closely by electrified cords that threw dirt around her paws as the ends were shot deeply into the earth. Before she knew it, Canine was through the doors and inside the mansion, unharmed.

"Phew," Canine sighed as she paced the doorway, unsure of what to do next, "There's bound to be more people in here... so that means we've got to hurry and get the whatever-it-is..." She peered outside, grimacing when Tony's metal form was still lying on the ground, smoke trailing from the joints and sparks of leaking electricity glinting along the grass. "T-Tony... Tony!"

The Avenger didn't move.

"Darn it... I have to save him, _again?_" Grumpily, Canine rushed outside, just in time to see three dark-clothed figures approaching stealthily towards the unconscious Tony. "Hey! No! Don't you dare!" She launched herself forward, howling with ferocity while pulling back onto her hind legs, letting her front paws slice threateningly through the air, white claws gleaming in the moonlight. She grinned inwardly at how hesitant they suddenly became. The sight of a giant, talking wolf, rearing up to stand around nine feet in height would be a very unsettling thing indeed. "You coming at me?! Come on! Bring it!" She snarled, letting all her anger and frustration that had been bottled up for the past three days put out. "Don't wanna fight?!Then beat it!" She leapt forward, snarling darkly while nearly snapping her jaws around one of the enemy's shoulders, effectively chasing the group away.

That's when Tony finally decided to wake up.

"Hm? Wh-what? What happened?"

Canine felt her rage and annoyance drift away, but not before leaving a feeling of contempt for Tony. "Oh, finally wake up did we? I hope you had a nice nap while I was saving your skin, _again_."

Immediately Tony was on the offensive, his voice clearly dripping with his usual sarcasm and with new bitterness. "Don't go on expecting a 'thank you' cuz you're not getting one. I didn't ask you to save me. Heck you didn't even listen to me earlier when I said to stay hidden."

"That's because you had been knocked out by the enemy!" Canine muttered, shoving her muzzle down to Tony's face behind the suit.

"And what are we still doing out in the open, Canine? With the snipers still live in the trees? Decided to save me so the enemy can finish me from above while we argue"

Canine's fur bristled. "Are you blaming me for your stupidity of flying right out into the open in the first place? Well listen here," She grasped his leg and started dragging him to the house, mentally and grudgingly noting that Tony was right with the snipers, but not letting it show, "We're here to retrieve whatever-it-is for Fury and I'm sure as heck gonna get it for him; whether you decide to help or not is up to you," the pair were in the house now and Canine quickly spat out the armor and stood to growl over Tony, "I'm not gonna take your ignorance and rudeness any more. Next time your life's in danger, save it yourself." Without waiting for the Avenger to reply, Canine turned and started deeper into the house.

* * *

**Sorry for not updating for so long. I've got other stories I'm trying to update, school (although it's almost over so that'll open up more time for writing), and I've been locked from virtually anything fun on my computer so writing time so far has been completed during ****school hours. Summer, I hope, brings updates every week, if not day.**

**So, Canine and Tony don't seem to be working very well together… I hope they'll be able to get the whatever-it-is for Fury.**

**Anyway, I'm going to try and get this done. In the meantime leave a review, give me prompts if you have any, check out my other stories (even though only two are completed), and keep being amazing. :)**

**-Light**


	8. Through the Hoops: Mutant's Master

_**Special thanks to my mom for this idea. She was helping me with my online class and snarkily remarked (after a ridiculous and completely pointless knowledge assessment) that we just had to jump through the hoops and do what they want me to do. Thus was born this prompt (put into words for all you readers)  
**_**_Prompt_**_**: Canine has done her best to please Fury and become the best SHIELD agent ever to be, even when it meant bottling up her pride for the past few months. However, on a mission to prove her worth, Canine is kidnapped and sold to the circus, where Fury's newest motto, "Just jump through the hoops", takes on a whole new perspective.**_

* * *

"Rise and shine, _mutant_," the ringmaster spat through the bars with contempt at the huddled figure in the farthest, darkest corner of the cage, "A new day brings more practice. Eat up then be ready to work. We have a performance tonight." He swung the cage door open with a loud screech and chucked an old chunk of bread inside, laughing as he turned and stalked away.

Canine shivered, wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to warm herself up. It was mid Autumn and all she had to wear was a black tank-top and sweats. Her boots and socks were gone, as well as her harness and Loki's old dagger. Instead she wore a broad shock collar which she ran her fingers over as she reached out and grabbed the bread. She felt the finely carved, gold inlaid patterns and the studded jewels that decorated the collar for the hundredth time, frowning once her fingertips felt the small keyhole that protected the inner lock. It would be easy to pick, she knew, but the ringmaster was careful to keep anything useful from her. Not to mention she'd only get into huge trouble when she's caught again.

Canine tore a chunk of the bread and put in in her mouth. It was stale, dry, and tasted faintly of mold and hay, but she forced herself to chew it and, finally, swallow. She repeated the process, tearing a piece off, popping it in her mouth, chewing, and swallowing. The third time Canine gagged and nearly spit out the bread, but she held it in and swallowed quickly to rid her mouth of the taste. The rest of the bread after that Canine hid carefully in her corner, in a hole where a bar in her cage had fallen out.

It was going to be her lunch.

With a sigh Canine crawled on her hands and knees to the open door and slid out, twisting around last second so her feet touched ground first and held her up. Her icy-blue eyes scanned the tents, trailers, and cages around her, catching every detail within moments.

The acrobats were doing warm-up tumbles near the opening to the main tent; creating small pyramids and towers of which they gracefully rolled or climbed free from.

The clowns, currently normal men for their costumes and paint were not on at such an early hour, walked about pulling jokes and pranks as they passed the performers, lifting the morale as well as warming up for their silly routines. A few were grouped together in a clearing, tossing juggling balls and pins to each other in a rhythmic manner.

Many other people walked about: the costume designers, the make-up crew, the stage crew, the animal caretakers… all completing whatever duty they had been assigned with haste to please the Ringmaster.

Lastly, Canine noticed the Lion Tamer, who was taking care of his lions by tossing large, raw chunks of meat to each as he passed their cages. His whip was at his side, but everyone knew it was only because the Ringmaster made him wear so it was always available for him to punish whoever got in trouble. Of course the Ringmaster himself had a whip, but he always made the Lion Tamer do his dirty work for him. Only Canine had ever felt the bite of the Ringmaster's whip.

Canine shuddered as the past four months ran through her mind. She had been jumped during an ambush mission in Australia -betrayed by one of her agents- and had been sold to a black market trader who quickly shoved her in a crated cage and shipped her to Africa where a poacher was waiting eagerly. From there Canine only saw the sun once before being shut up in the crate and put on a private jet with the other illegal items the poacher had sold and flown overseas. Two fuel stops later Canine found herself in Nevada face to face with with the Ringmaster.

She had to admit the travel could have been worse. She had been drugged the entire time via the meals they provided every day so she didn't have to be tied up and easily slept through the trip. But, however comfortable, or uncomfortable, Canine certainly didn't have whatever luxury her capture might have had. It didn't help that, the moment she was able, she attempted to escape from the circus she was a slave to. She had much more freedom before then.

Canine visibly shuddered, partially from a brisk, chilly wind, and from the memory of the Ringmaster's angry voice and the weight of his body as he tackled her down straight from the trapeze. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. She remembered trying to morph but only got halfway before strong fingers snaked tightly around her throat and cut all air from her lungs.

Canine awoke an hour later, tied tightly spread-eagle to the side of what became her cage. Her wrists were raw from holding her weight for so long against the coarse ropes, and her head spun as an after-effect of being choked.

At first Canine stood there, blinking hard to clear away the spots that danced in front of her eyes. Then there was pain.

Red. Hot. Stinging pain.

Over,

And over,

And over again.

The unused whip end lashed out with an un-describable fury, biting like a snake striking its prey and sinking it's long fangs into the flesh to release its toxic poison.

Canine had howled with agony. She writhed and pulled against the ropes holding her wrists and her ankles and only succeeded in rubbing her skin bloody and raw. Soon her throat was burning and her screams were hollow whispers.

It seemed like an eternity before the Ringmaster withdrew, spitting with contempt and returning to his trailer. There Canine was left, hanging limp and bleeding for half an hour until someone gathered the courage to untie her and start caring for the ragged gashes that had been made through her shirt.

Canine shook her head to clear her head and open her eyes again to the bustling circus, casting out the unpleasant echoes of her capture. It was beyond her now. Not just the capture, but her life before it all too. She was no longer Canine Stray the SHIELD trainee; Earth's hero; reporter... she was Mutant, the girl who was cursed to forever be a wolf; and nothing was going to change it.

"Mutant, come here please." Canine wordlessly turned 45 degrees and walked forward, knowing exactly who it was summoning her and where he was thanks to her wolfish hearing. "Yes, Aurie?"

Aurie was someone Canine loathed- respected, but hated all the same. He was nineteen, a year older than Canine, and a bossy jerk. Sure he had said please when he called her, but it didn't mean anything. His role in the circus was the sorcerer who 'cursed' Canine into a wolf during performances.

"That's 'master' to you, Mutant," Aurie snarled without a hint of emotion, "I curse you and thus you are in my power." He waved his hand in front of Canine's face, brushing his fingers along his palm where Canine knew a button was placed that controlled her collar. Instantly she shied away, unconsciously putting a hand to the collar, half expecting it to go off. "Yesss, that's right..." Aurie hissed with a sneer crossing his face as he pulled his hand back to his side, "Fear me, for you are under my control."

He went silent, expecting a reply, but Canine held her tongue, denying him the satisfaction.

"Answer me!" Aurie clicked the button, instantly sending a short wave of electricity shooting through Canine's body, making her yelp and fall to her knees.

Shivering with cold, and trembling with fear of being shocked again, Canine whimpered:

"Y-yes, M-M-Master... I a-am under y-your c-con-control..."

"That's better. Now, get up. I want you to help me with something my father wants me to do."

_I forgot to mention_... Aurie was the Ringmaster's son.


	9. Where I Want To Be

I kept my face blank and angled towards the white floor. I was casually leaning against the hard white walls, one knee brought up so my arms could rest on it while the other was straight ahead of me. I had kept myself fairly clean and orderly; careful not to wrinkle the white, scratchy clothes I wore, and made my short-cut, curly, golden hair look pleasing.

The quiet, almost inaudible whirring noise of the camera hidden in the far corner was the only noise besides my slow, content breathing. No one knew I knew the camera was there, which made my position all the more important to get perfect. I had to look normal—like I wanted to be where I was—so I could be released.

I let a small grin lift the corners of my lips. Now I imagined I looked like a normal teen sitting against a wall relaxing as if waiting for something exciting or important to happen to pull my attention. It was now only a matter of time before I would be let out; let out into the world again.

But, no matter how I made myself appear, I still felt lonely and defeated. I was mentally rotting in this white cell with nothing to do—nothing to possibly hurt myself with, or anyone else with.

I was facing off with time and sanity—playing a game of cards that was currently at a tie. I wasn't feeling utterly insane yet, but the people on the other side of the walls and the camera were taking their time and I didn't know how much longer I could wait. Soon, something would happen, and I would be in very little control of it.

I reached in my only pocket and pulled out a small, red bouncy-ball. It was no bigger than an inch in diameter, but it was the only thing I was allowed to keep in the cell at all times. After all, what could I possibly do to myself with it? I could swallow it, but then I'd be out of a distraction, and a toy.

I tossed it casually into the air a few times, acting as if testing its weight and size (though I knew exactly how it reacted with physics by this time) before using it for its purpose. A few moments of doing this and I decided it was time to play. I tossed it forward with practiced ease, bouncing it twice against the floor before it hit the far wall once and bounced back to me in three bounces. I repeated the action.

Two bounces. Once bounce. Three bounces.

Two bounces. Once bounce. Three bounces.

Two bounces. Once bounce. Three bounces.

Two bounces. Once bounce. Three bounces.

Now I was bored, and decided to switch up the routine. I threw it harder at the floor, getting one tall, far bounce across the room, one against the wall, then two to where I sat.

One bounce. One Bounce. Two bounces.

One bounce. One Bounce. Two bounces.

One bounce. One Bounce. Two bounces.

One bounce. One Bounce. Two bounces.

One bounce. One Bounce. Two bounces.

I caught the ball in my palm and kept it there for a few seconds, feeling it's warmth after being in action for the time it has been. It almost seemed to melt into my hand with how familiar it felt.

Time for another switch-up: one large throw and the ball hit the wall, bouncing back with much more force once against the floor then into my hand.

One bounce. One bounce.

One bounce. One bounce.

One bounce. One bounce.

One bounce. One bounce.

One bounce. One bounce.

One bounce. One bounce.

Boring. Time to switch up the patterns…

One bounce. One bounce.

One bounce. One bounce.

Two bounces. One bounce. Three bounces.

One bounce. One bounce. Two bounces.

Two bounces. One bounce. Three bounces.

One bounce. One bounce.

One bounce. One bounce. Two bounces.

One bounce. One bounce.

Two bounces. One bounce. Three bounces.

Three bounces. Once bounce. Roll.

I scowled at the interruption in my pattern. Somewhere the ball had hit something on the floor wrong to make it bounce differently.

I sighed and put the ball back in my pocket, no longer holding any enthusiasm for playing with it. Yes, it was getting to be short time left before something had to happen. I couldn't sit in the blank, boring room forever.

I opened my eyes, looking out into the white space for the first time in hours. At first the whiteness was what I had assumed I would see again, as I had been seeing it for the last six years, which had first blinded my eyes to what was lying on the floor. Only after a double-take did I fully register there was a real object, something from the outside, lying on the floor where I would have bounced the ball moments earlier.

Once quick glance towards the camera was all I did before I lunged forward, scrambling to pick up the object from the floor to know for a surety that it was real. Yes. It was solid. Not a hologram or some other sort of trick. It was real, and it was mine.

My smile spread to fill my face and to touch my mind; giving me real interest and curiosity for once in a long time. I rolled the thing between two of my fingers, standing because I felt like I wanted to stand. I took every detail in: the smooth surface… hard, cold feel… shiny material that reflected the whiteness around it so it almost seemed to glow… metallic smell…I had no clue what it was, but it was mine. They had given it to me and I would never give it back.

I glared around jealously; suddenly feeling like one of _them_ would jump in and steal it right out of my hands. No one could take my present. It was mine and no one else's. It was my thing from the outside world.

MINE.

I held it a while longer before dropping it into my mouth and swallowing it moments later. It was going to be mine forever. All. Mine. No one else's. Mine. Mine forever and always. MINE. Always. Mine. Always. No one else's. Mine. Forever. Mine.

I dragged my fingers against the wall while I turned back to my place against the wall, knowing full well I was leaving behind only tiny scratches while my weakened, dull claws were the ones being destroyed. But I didn't care. I couldn't remember the last time my claws were the long, sharp, golden weapons they used to be. It has been years since my body had been at full perfection. Even my tail now was no longer the same color than I seem to remember it being. The scaled seemed to refuse to glint and shine like they used to, almost as if the pure whiteness of the walls had put them to shame and made them think badly about themselves.

I turned and fell backwards, using what strong muscled remained in my draconic tail to catch me right before I hit the floor so I slid smoothly down. I leaned back with hands behind my head; my fingers brushing through my golden curls softly until one claw accidentally brushed the base of one of my horns, making me flinch. My short, once gold horns that curled back slightly along the top of my head, growing a few inches over my ears, were sensitive—even more so now that they were denied the necessary nutrients to stay strong and healthy. Any touch would send shivers down my spine and make the hidden blade at the end of my tail appear. Harder than a small brush and it would become ticklish—harder to the point of rough handling or sharp hits would send pain, especially down at the bases where the horns met my skull.

I pulled my hands away, shaking my head to rid myself of the tingling resonating form where I brushed the right horn's base. By far the horns were the worst things to deal with anywhere. Sure, with my tail being attached to my spine it was rather sensitive too if pulled or stepped on, but nothing compared to my horns.

I pulled the bouncy-ball from my pocket again, starting my repetitive patterns over again. This time I watched as it bounced with interested eyes. It was interesting how, no matter where I threw it it would bounce back. Inevitably, as far as I have figured, the ball would eventually, given it would continue moving forever, come back to me after I throw it. But there was no pattern easily remembered behind such movement, so I forgot the thought.

I passed the next few hours in this way, bouncing the little red ball in repeated patterns while thinking about anything that comes up in my mind. Eventually I found myself entertaining one thought in particular: escape.

Why not? It wouldn't hurt to try. After all, the worst the people out there could do would be kill me, and that wouldn't be very far from sitting in the white room forever.

Yes, escape could be possible. I would have to do something different form the usual to first catch their attention… then somehow get one to open the door. From there I could attack and slip out—escape from the white room to the real world and be free.

Something rumbled in my stomach and I scowled in confusion, pressing one hand to it and grasping at the fabric between my skin and my claws. What was this feeling? It was new, and different…

My stomach growled again and I grinned. I remembered this feeling. It was an old one; one far from the past, but still memorable. I rarely ever did what was happening, mostly because of how dirty it often made me, but, at the moment, I didn't argue.

The little object from earlier… It was magnesium; a very small portion, but enough for me to use an ability that has been far out of commission. Breathing fire used to be easy, but after my metal storage sac was emptied by the people outside, and my gas storage sac removed, my fire was taken away. But now—now that someone so helpfully supplied me with a flammable metal, I could breathe fire again.*

I experimentally ran my tongue along the roof of my mouth, feeling the small, flint-like bone that jutted out above the skin.

This was going to be fun. A few more hours and the magnesium would be ready for firing.

Escape was going to be easy now.

* * *

**So, this was inspired by the song Fences by Paramore (or... the other way around...*shrug*). I've had some general plans for where this whole Post Loki Disaster thing was going, and this is one of the branches. If it ends up going anywhere, I might make it it's own story in itself for the sake of organization. :P So, tell me how you like it, and whether you want more or not (though I will be writing more anyway).**

***So, this character is a sort of human-dragon mutant (I guess). He/She (I haven't decided a gender yet...) has claws that are usually very sharp and strong and can usually shred through anything. He/she also has horns that grow directly from the skull and are filled with nerves, so pulling one of them is extremely painful. The tail is much like a dragon's; just smaller. Someone can wrap their hands around it and touch fingertips, while the length is as long as his/her body. At its tip, there's a strange blade that is actually invisible to the human eye, and is extremely sharp, even after years in a plain white room with very little to do or eat. **

***He/she can breathe fire in two ways: like normal dragons-using a storage sac full of flammable gasses and a flint-like bone on the roof of the mouth that produces sparks when struck with the tip of his/her tongue that ignites the ****released ****gasses, and also by using any kind of metal that can be lit on fire which is stored in a second storage sac where the metal is broken down into a liquid by bodily fluids. The usage of liquid metals can bring different effects to the breathed fire, such as color, heat, explosiveness, and flow of the fire. (Magnesium (you can look it up if you want) is rather explosive and creates a brighter light than normal fire.) The smallest amount of liquid metal can be a huge asset for him/her and can last him/her for as least an hour. **

***Like most dragons, he/she can be rather possessive of his/her stuff, and can easily become jealous of others. If given the chance, he/she would readily sit in a cave atop a pile of gold and precious stones and other metals like any usual dragon and its horde. **

**... If I want to explain more it would come in next chapters or in one specifically for dragon-human anatomy. ^.^ **

**Anyway, enough of the chit-chat. Please review, and tell me what you think; let me know you all like the story. And please, if you haven't, read Loki's Stray. This upcoming branch will not have a lot to do with it's main trunk, but you guys will know more about one of the main characters if you do read it. **

**-Light**


	10. Digital

I slid from behind the door, glancing around to make sure no one had stayed in the room for over-hours work. With every computer monitor turned off, and no light on, it was apparent that no one had done so.

I grinned and snuck between the tables and desks of computers until I stopped in front of one particular monitor. Finally, after so long, it was time. After all the waiting, and lying, and pulling strings, and acting; I had the computer before me.

I cracked my knuckles and leaned forward. A jiggle of the mouse brought the screen to life.

At this I giggled quietly; He always forgot to truly turn off the computer, which made this all possible in the first place.

The blue screen changed to the login screen. A little box with the image of a red rose floated above the default username text box with the user already typed in from computer memory. Below that was the password box.

I eyed the little white space, smirking with an ironic glee at the poor little wall of security, then shoved my hand forward and pinched the box. I felt static tickle my fingertips while I started to move the little box around. I pulled it up. I pulled it down. I pulled it into the top right corner.

Oh, I enjoyed the power I wielded.

With a small flick of my fingers the box spun around to the bottom of the screen, slowing down almost exhaustedly before falling back into its place. I reached forward again with my other hand and gripped one side, while the other fingers grabbed the opposite. After an experimental tug, I pulled my hands apart, ripping the poor password box into two pieces. In one piece I typed a short little message, and tossed it out of the screen. The other I tore up again, and again, and again, until I had nothing but ribbons of white code. Balling these up in my hand, I yanked them from the screen, feeling the numbers solidify in my palm before I let them fall to the floor, useless.

Done with my toying, the screen no longer had a password box and thus needed no password to let me in. One click of the mouse brought me to the homepage. I rapidly started typing in hacks and coding commands in the black box that appeared on the screen. My fingers flew over the keyboard with gifted ease for one minute then I stood up for a moment to congratulate myself on my speed. I broke my record for pulling down over 20 firewalls.

The entire business server was under my control. I could do anything. Download spyware. Upload all the information online for anyone's taking.

Delete everything.

Fortunately for the company, I wasn't planning on anything disastrous; only a little reminder that I was still miffed for their little "joke". I put my hand against the computer USB input, downloading a message straight from my mind and commanding it to play on a continuous loop that could only be stopped with the single word I had typed in the password box half and sent to any computer, in any file, in any place-able area possible in the entire building network. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. I figured the punishment was even, considering the joke had almost gotten me _killed_.

I pulled my hand away from the computer, a wide grin crossing my face. AIM was going to be sooooo ticked!

[…]

I strolled along the street, idly kicking a small stone while I walked with my hands in my pockets, hat low over my face, hoodie up, and headphones around my neck. In my pocket was the newest smartphone—not yet released to the public. How did I get it? AIM had it in a glass case in the open. No one would be using the original working prototype, why let it go to waste?

Those were the thoughts going through my mind while I casually walked in front of the building I had just been in not a day ago. No surprise for me that the "CLOSED" sign was up. The poor people inside were probably in hysterics trying to get everything up and running again.

At this I couldn't help but to laugh, pausing at the door and looking up at the top-most floor. What a joy it was to have the oh-so-powerful AIM brought to its knees, especially after being such jerks to, well, everyone—not just the Avengers, Canine, and SHIELD.

A little hum caught my attention and I turned my head to stare into the eye of a security camera. With little thought I stuck out my tongue and gave the finger, waiting a few seconds to make sure security had seen before turning and walking away, making sure I put a little spring into my steps. I wasn't, in the least bit, feeling guilty about what I had done, and I was showing it.

At first I thoroughly enjoyed my moment of defiance and rudeness, practically skipping down the street to the next corner with pride, but a shout behind me halted my enjoyment. I looked over my shoulder only long enough to spy two men running my way looking rather miffed.

I didn't wait to start running.

I sprinted around the corner, dodging around people and occasionally bumping into some who would shout angry words at my retreating back which only fell upon deaf ears. I had one goal in mind and one goal only. Listening to strangers was the last thing on my mind.

I bolted around a corner, slipping quickly over to the next street in hopes that it would mislead the men, simultaneously reaching in my pocket to yank out the stolen phone. Pushing and shoving through people on the sidewalk, I held the phone up and started navigating through apps, screens, hack-boxes, and radio waves, until I found what I wanted: google maps. I had coincidentally left my last search up which happened to be the alleys and fire exits that were attached to the street I was running on and the two on either side of it. Up a block ahead was my escape route.

Before returning the device to my pants, I tapped my music, summoning my action movie soundtracks which immediately started to play through the headphones.

"Someone stop that man!"

I shoved my phone in my pocket and pushed myself to go faster, feeling my heart beat against my ribcage with the thrill of the chase. I wasn't worried about anyone interfering because, hey, this was New York—people didn't care to get involved. Besides, I could see my exit coming up not meters away-

Suddenly my foot caught onto something and I found myself tumbling to the ground, falling face-first into the cement. My nose immediately started to bleed, and my right cheek stung hotly, matching my palms and knees which took an equal amount of the road-rash. Grunting in pain I attempted to stand only to get smacked in the ribs with a stick.

"What the-?" I growled, turning my head to look up towards the building side of the sidewalk. There stood a man looking like he was in his early forties, wearing a black business suit and a navy blue scarf wrapped loosely around his neck, a thick, sleek cane held in his fists, "Going somewhere, friend?"

I spat blood out of my mouth, grabbing and shoving the stick away to keep the man from hitting me again. "Yes! Now, excuse me-"

In the middle of standing, only in a crouch, I felt a shoe slide under my chest and thrust up. All air was driven from my lungs as I simultaneously was pushed to my feet. Milliseconds later a pair of elbows came down on my shoulders near the base of my neck.

Instantly I collapsed, black pooling my vision, and I passed out.


End file.
